AMD To Launch Desktop Thoroughbred in June

Advanced Micro Devices will launch the desktop version of its "Thoroughbred" Athlon XP microprocessor on June 10, according to an email from the company forwarded by an anonymous source.

Advanced Micro Devices will launch the desktop version of its "Thoroughbred" Athlon XP microprocessor on June 10, according to an email from the company forwarded by an anonymous source.

AMD, Sunnyvale, Calif., will launch a "2200+" (1.8-GHz) version of the Thoroughbred on that date, although 1700+ to 2100+ (1.47-GHz to 1.73-GHz) models will also eventually transition to the Thoroughbred core, the email said.

While the Thoroughbred core does not offer any additional features compared to the Athlon XP, it represents a process shrink from 0.18-micron to 0.13-micron, allowing AMD to push future clock speeds even higher. But the clock speed of the first Thoroughbred also seems to indicate that AMD will not be able to release a 2200+ version of its current "Palomino" Athlon XP core, leading some observers to assume the manufacturing process has run out of steam.

The email also reiterates AMD's support for "Barton", the next Athlon core that follows the Thoroughbred.

"The Thoroughbred's specifications allow AMD to continue to ramp the Athlon XP by introducing higher-performance model numbers," the email states. "The next core scheduled for the 7th generation Athlon XP line is Barton which will double our L2 cache size giving a good bump in clock-for-clock performance."

AMD reworked the Athlon XP core in shrinking the chip, resulting in a smaller die size but also reducing the number of transistors. The core measures just 80 sq. mm, compared to a die size of 128 sq. mm for the current "Palomino" core, also known as the Athlon XP. Intel Corp.'s older "Willamette" Pentium 4 requires 146 sq. mm, although the recent 0.13-micron "Northwood" process shrink takes that down to 131 sq. mm., according to a spokesman for Intel Corp., Santa Clara, Calif.

Like the Palomino, the Thoroughbred core contains 256 Kbytes of level-2 cache.
The Thoroughbred core was first rolled out in April, when AMD released the core into the notebook market as the "mobile Athlon XP", where the reduced heat of the chip plays a more significant role. The model 2100+ desktop Thoroughbred, meanwhile, typically consumes 56.4 watts at 1.6 volts; a 2100+ "Palomino" core consumes 64.3W at 1.75V.

Last year, AMD said that it was pushing out its use of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology until the end of 2002, as the yields on its current process were satisfactory.

"I think there's one or two clock rate (increases) left in it," said Dean McCarron, principal at Mercury Research, Cave Creek, Ariz. said of the current technology. "It's been pretty clear that frequency yields have improved dramatically."

Later this year, AMD will begin the switch to its 64-bit "Hammer" or Opteron lines, the beginning of an eventual switch away from 32-bit processors. While Intel continues to manufacture microprocessors at several hundred actual megahertz higher than AMD, McCarron said AMD is not being left behind.

"While Intel has 2.2-GHz, 2.4-GHz, and 2.53-GHz, the actual volume's at 1.7-, 1.8-, and 2.0(-GHz)," McCarron said. "From a business viewpoint, there's not a lot of risk."

As of now, pricing has not been set on the new Thoroughbred parts, according to the email.